Reclassifying the course as community land would likely hand the freehold title for the course to the Berri Barmera Council.

The arrangement would give the golf club the option of accessing council infrastructure including machinery while tapping into more cost-effective financing options.

Club president Robert Thurmer said that while the club was currently trading solvent, its position was precarious.

"It would be fair to say that it wouldn't take much to tip us over the edge," he said.

The community land model has been adopted by other golf clubs including Murray Bridge.

"We've had a number of discussions with the Berri Barmera Council about it," Mr Thurmer said.

"While the club remains viable it can be there forever, but in the case of the club folding or declaring bankruptcy, the council then steps in and can make decisions on behalf of the golf club and the community whether to sell the land or refinance the club or maybe use the land for another purpose."

"Many of our members have shown a great deal of interest in the community land proposal."

The club will put forward a proposal to the council following a special meeting to be held later this year.

Declining green fees, memberships and additional cost pressures have hampered golf clubs in recent years, with the Renmark Golf Club selling its course to the Berri Resort Hotel Group and the Waikerie course on the market.

Subdivision plans

The Berri Golf Club has also considered subdividing some of the course to provide residential housing or fly-in, fly-out accommodation.

"We have areas in the course that we have the ability to subdivide, as of yet we haven't made any subdivisions purely because of the cost and the fact that land in the Berri area is not selling at all at the moment," Mr Thurmer said.

He ruled out reducing the course to a nine-hole playing facility.

"Under no circumstances will we go to nine-hole, as an 18-hole course is the only way you can make any money at all."

The club this year has a budget of about $320,000 and debt levels it describes as "reasonable".

In order to reduce cost pressures, the club recently terminated the employment of a green keeper and took on a council mowing contract for Berri's Glassey Park sporting grounds.

"It was purely a matter of finances, and we could only afford to keep one green keeper, those two decisions will help us balance the budget but we still need a greater revenue stream to put us into a situation where we can put money aside for machinery and perhaps put on another trainee," Mr Thurmer said.

The club's main revenue sources include green fees, memberships, its council mowing contract and an annual lease for the Big River Tavern by the Berri Resort Hotel Group.

The hotel group operate the tavern and pay an annual fee to the club for the lease of the building and the land. The hotel funded a multi-million development at the tavern.

Mr Thurmer said the hotel group had not been part of discussions about the option of subdivision or community land classification.

"It would be fair to say that without their contribution we would not exist as we are today [but] they have not been involved in any community land or subdivision discussions," he said.

He said the hotel previously put forward an offer to buy a parcel of the golf course land but that the offer was rejected by the club, which "considered to be grossly inadequate".